Silent Threat
by Zombiedeer
Summary: Osiam has gathered his companions, now as he dodges around assassination attempts from differing sources, and continues to defy those who wish his death on his journey to save the world. Zevran x M Warden  elf . Longer desc inside.
1. Sign of danger

**Chapter** 1

**Disclaimer:** I own none of the characters from DA. The only thing I claim to have made is the personality of my own Warden.

**Rating:** MA for language, gore, and sexual situations. Note that any chapter that contains sexual acts will have a warning at the top encase you prefer to skip that sort of thing.

**Summary:** Osiam has gathered his companions, he's bulldozed his way through half of his grueling journey, capturing the faith and loyalty of the elves, and of the mages, now as he dodges around assassination attempts from differing sources, and continues to defy those who wish his death on his journey to save , possibly the entire world...Could it be that the refined and silent mage is finding himself distracted by a more serious threat...Love? Zevran x M Warden

**Edit 1/14/12: ** I've fiddled with the first chapter to make it seem more appealing to read, as well as take out some uneeded things and add more emotion to some quotes. I've already started plotting the more detailed structures of chapter two out and hope to have it typed out somewhat soon.

The dark figure of the warden shifted silently by the smoldering fire, his bright golden eyes darted up quickly as Alistar approached the fire, from the pitch black depths of the outer camp.

"Had enough for one night?" He asked with the usual smile of his that said he tried to make light despite their situation. Silence followed, causing Alistar to grunt awkwardly, but finally the warden glanced back up after poking his dainty foot at the fire, and nodded. Alistar gazed silently away for a moment before catching the warden as he shifted by "Right...Hey."

Osiam paused as he felt a hand placed on his shoulder, looking back from where he had turned to leave.

"Do you...want to talk about today?" The question was posed carefully, and hesitantly. Not because Alistar didn't want to really hear it, but because he didn't want to see the already strict mage become angry in any way. But to his relief the warden only shook his head and stepped back casually to his tent.

His dark skin vanished as he crossed the lit line of the fire's reach. Even though it was nearly impossible to see this far out, he could tell there was a certain Antivan watching him from aside his tent. "..." Osiam lifted his head, staring unimpressed at the equally as short, male elf. Zevran only smiled and nodded. "Warden."

His sharp golden eyes squinted in distrust before he jerked his mangled cloak around himself and hunkered down into his tent. Thoughts and opinions on the assassin channeled through his mind as he made himself a bed of cloth. Zevran was a good fighter, and he knew exactly where to be on the battle field when one of the less armored team mates were being battered. However, even with all they had been through so far, raking down werewolves and destroying abominations, he felt the former Crow was only clinging to his hope of getting out alive. As soon as the wardens use had expired, so would his life no doubt. But he had no intentions of letting Zevran's selfish desires stop him from saving the innocent people who were already being slaughtered by darkspawn. He glared softly at his bed as he clutched a thin sheet of covers in his smooth hands. He was going to survive.

Zevran had seen what mages can do in the circle, he doubted the man was dumb enough to suddenly attack Osiam. His unsureness continued to gnaw on him though, as he slid a hand through his deep chocolate hair, it was surprisingly well trimmed for an elf, or rather, and elf that was traveling all over. He liked it short though, long hair snagged and required care to keep decent. As he lowered himself to sleep, he was sent into dreams with the memory of those two coined whores he'd seen at the inn in Lothering, their hair blistered and split off. Bleh.

A thin sliver of light flooded through the slightly parted entrance to the tent, running up Osiam's body and ending just over his right eye, and hairline. "..." He pinched the same eye shut in discomfort before sitting up to glare curiously through the overbearing glimmer of the morning sun. His hand reached out to pull aside one of the cloth flaps and crawl out.

"Good morning warden!" He scrunched up his nose almost instantly shooting his glare at Zevran who was always up in time to greet him every morning. "Oh, come now, Your anger at my hospitable greetings wounds me deeper every day warden." Though he said so, his lips slid further into a grin after every word he spoke.

Osiam look unamused again, less angry, but definitely unimpressed as always, before he stretched out his back and stood up straight. Usually there was no time to bathe everyday, or even change. His most often worn clothes were a pair of slack black cloth pants, and a loose cloak whos dusty dark grey body fanned over his body in ripples, though left open enough to see he didn't bother clothing his chest. There was a wide hood as well to be lifted over himself when his elf roots became a problem in some town. Not that it helped much when one of their most helpful and often used companions was an elf himself.

Sometimes Osiam thought the assassin could read his mind, for as soon as the problem of being picked on for having elf partners came into mind, the Crow called out for the warden and strutted over very casually.

"Your cloak is _very_ fancy warden!" He cocked his head as the words rolled slyly from his lips.

Osiam squinted his eyes, as if he predicted this conversation wasn't going to interest him in the least.

"Perhaps you'd take ...me, somewhere to buy one?" Which of course meant that Zevran was looking for a free escort to some city without rousing suspicion.

"Just one minute there..." Alistar strode over as well, looking as intimidating and protective as he possibly could while still being himself. "Just where are you asking us to take you? How can we trust you haven't planted an ambush for us?"

Osiam hadn't though of that, he glanced thankfully to Alistar then suspiciously to Zevran who frowned and folded his arms.

"Warden we've traveled together for a few months now and still, no attempts to kill you. When will you trust that I have no dark ending planned for you? It is very discouraging no?"

Alistar twinged his mouth, obviously he didn't fully trust that little act of self pity. "Why do you really want to go to this place? And where is it?"

Zevran took a more serious posture. "I know it doesn't seem worth it at the moment , but! I know for sure there is a collection of Crows in the farmlands outside Lothering right now."

Alistar was the first to meet with an appalled comeback. "Lothering is gone! Everyone there who hadn't fled is dead! What would a bunch of assassins want there and why should we care if they're there? Don't you think we should avoid them? Or are you just so uncaring now that you wouldn't try to hide your own assassination plan from us?"

The two continued to go back and forth on why it was important to take out any patrol who might be close and or looking for them, or why it was important not to give away their location by chasing after stupid assassins, or how assassins were not stupid, just mage hunters were.

Osiam was thankful that Sten stepped heavily behind him and tapped his shoulder. "..." The dark elf turned and gave him a questioning look.

"...Are you...Arguing about something important?" He muttered casually.

Osiam glanced back at the pair, then back to Sten and shook his head.

"Then I suggest we go to this dwarf city underground, that is one of our destinations..correct?"

Osiam nodded again, but he found both men at his back in an instant.

"What if this group finds us on our way? I hope the brilliant mage hunter will be prepared. Crows are not something to throw a stick at you know."

Alistar came back quickly with. "Which is exactly why we need to avoid them! What if one of us gets hurt? Hm? You think it'd be a fancy trip to the place where darkspawn are birthed, with a dagger in our back? I'm telling you, we can't afford to fight needlessly at the moment. There's more to this than just smashing through everyone we hear about who stands between us and the blight. We need to pick our fights carefully so we're all still standing when we're needed the most." He gave Osiam a stern look, one that said not to take this situation lightly.

"..." He glanced to Sten, then nodded and began to shuffle back to his tent where he kept his staff. But not before catching an unusually frustrated look from Zevran. Usually the man didn't have strong opinions on where Osiam led them, the followed and killed like he was meant to. Why was this such a big deal to him?

Osiam rolled his eyes as if the man were acting childish, and reached around his tent in a kneeling position so he wouldn't have to fully enter the tent. A hard, dry wood hit his fingers and he grabbed the thin object, reeling it out with ease. It was a staff made of iron bark, an impressive object. The tip was melted into itself, making it look like one mighty gripping set of claws. Inside the claws was a dragons heart, ambered in melted drake scales. The elf would admit he liked a good dragon hunt, though truthfully he'd feel higher if he could tame one and use it as a mount to ride around on. That'd most likely make half of the idiots who suddenly attacked his companions, think twice and spare the warden some time. Osiam traced his fingers down the rugged shaft of the staff, lingering in the areas where he'd tied strips of cloth. Each, was a reminder.

"Oh warden." A quiet sigh followed the summons, darker elf looking up at the Crow who was apparently back to his regular, "optimistic" self. "You know, it has come to my attention that you seem to be a _very_** dark** person." He jerked a grin over his face with the word 'dark' "I find you so very alluring. I cannot believe with all of your tenseness you still refuse to let me message you."

Osiam opened his mouth to materialize some snappy remark but Alistar was there to save him the time.

"And let you stab him in the back at the same time? You can't possibly believe he'd let you after you told everyone that dreadful story of the girl in the carriage who fell out and died."

Zevran clicked his tongue back at the would be templar. "Tsk tsk tsk, Alistar I did not kill that woman now did I?"

"Yes well you were going to. It's the same thing."

"_She was a target, the warden is no longer my target._" He chimed innocently, then added with an annoyed point to his tone. "And if I remember correctly, I told that story to the smart warden, no one else. That you have large ears is not my fault." There was a silent cackle of laughter plastered on his face as he watched Alistar have a powerful struggle with how to controle the rage that followed the comment. Finally, he seemed to regain himself, but wasn't finished with Zev.

"Oh? And how can we be sure of that? You said yourself Crows will kill even after they make something out to be over. That right?" He nodded and looked quickly to Osiam who glanced back at him and eventually nodded slowly. "Yes, that's settled then, no weirdo hand movey things." Alistar then fully faced Osiam and offered. "So who are we taking this time?"

It was a question Alistar asked every morning, and in the same tone, it almost sounded programmed into the man's brain. They were going to travel to the underground city, they might bump into a group of scavenger crows looking to finish Zevrans job. His mind snapped together all of the possible outcomes of his team to be. He nodded at Wynne, then Zevran. Alistar knew that he was one of the very few people Osiam actually trusted with every little thing in his he'd always be a key role in all the battles.

They did nothing separately when it came to fighting. Despite the fact that Alistar might have been a mage hunter if given enough time. As the group prepared themselves and began to leave camp, Osiam began to recall how much he used to distrust even Alistar. When he'd first arrived in camp with Duncan, the elf was resentful of the skilled warden. He hadn't wanted to leave his calm life in the tower, he hadn't wanted to find out his best friend lied to him. He didn't want to trust or fight or ever leave the spot he stood in as Jowan admitted he'd lied...and was a blood mage.

Osiam blinked his attention back to the road. Everything was quiet and even the watchful assassin of his was focusing on things that they usually couldn't because they were busy looking around themselves.

"Tell me my warden." Zevran finally requested the wardens attention again with a sudden conversation.

Osiam glared defensively as always, met with a pleased chuckle.

"I love the way you respond to me warden. there is no one quite like you, I must say. Not that I have met, anyway...As I was saying. I was watching you a few moments ago."

The young mage wanted to snap at him, telling him _not to watch him and to mind his own business_, but Zevran knew Osiam only ever spoke if he had to, and so carried on without pause.

"I noticed you looked _very_, **_very_ **distant. I cannot help but wonder what sort of thought could pull you so _very_ far from this waking world." There was little to no slyness in his voice, just general curiosity, which surprised Osiam just a little.

"..." He looked at Alistar, who had peeked back to make sure Zevran wasn't grinding to hard on the younger warden's nerves.

"Probably his old home." Alistar guessed. "...Or _the battle_..." His voice died to a slightly haunted mutter.

Osiam looked up and took a few long strides to stand aside the taller male, peering around him questionably.

"Oh!" He flinched and smiled sheepishly. "No, it's fine, I was just..."

Zevran took the same long strides Osiam did, though tried to flash a fancy display of shoulder movement as he did so. "Just feeling bad for yourself?" He smirked.

That was all it took for the two to start going at each other again.

Osiam squinted his eyes and took a few steps away from them, looking back to find Wynne at a concerning distance from them. He slowed himself until the two other men were far ahead, and Wynne had caught up.

"Don't worry about me." She smiled warmly, the age in her eyes only amplified the kindness in her frail voice. "I'm only back here because I foresaw those two fighting. It's like this every time you bring them both somewhere isn't it?"

Osiam continued to walk alongside her, but glanced around as if he were pausing, then nodded, he hadn't noticed that until now.

"It makes me wonder if that's why you're so quiet." She chuckled jokingly, but fell into a serious tone just after. "But truly...I've always known you to be a quiet boy, from the first day they brought you in as a tiny thing, just barely off of your mothers lap. Would it be too bold of me to ask why that is?"

Osiam had already begun to ponder his relationship with Wynne, and exactly how much he trusted her. Out of all his companions, he'd known her the longest. She was an older mage at the circle when he arrived, and took a motherly fancy to him like she did all of the children. But he didn't want to discuss his past to anyone. An no amount of trust would change that. Osiam looked away regretfully, and Wynne only smiled.

"I understand." She murmured.

The thick and stubbly, dried trees around them had slowly started to change as they traveled further, each new mile brought more girth and height to the tree's. Their bark, darker, as well as their leaves. Eventually pine needles replaced the thrush of leaves, and snow had begun to fall. Osiam crossed his eyes as a single flake of snow landed gently on his nose.

"Oh, my warden." The softness of the voice surprised him, as the Crow had just seen a unicorn draft down from the skies and kiss a kitten on the head witht he upmost care.

He looked up.

"That pure white drift of snow upon your endlessly delicious dark skin is an unbearable contrast. Why do you tempt me so?"

The mage wrinkled his nose and quickly brushed the snow away quickly.

He heard Zevran begin to laugh delightfully, which only made him more sour.

"You're lucky he's so patient with you." He heard Alistars distant voice mutter to the Crow. "If you tried any of that talk on me-"

Zevran chuckled darkly and responded instantly "Why would I try it on you? You're not alluring or attractive in the least."

Alistar let out a jumble of sounds, most were angered, some were embarrassed. "I never said-"

Osiam brought his eyes on Zevran as the elf assassin began to laugh again. "Now now Alistar, I said you werent attractive, I didn't say I wouldn't give you a chance to ask me to your tent" There was a mock pity there as Zevran finished.

That only riled the mage hunter further, he began to threaten using his sword on Zevran, who so skillfully replied that he'd love to see Alistar's sword up close and in person.

The younger elf warden had to fight the urge to crack even a small smile.

Wynne was shaking her head in light mood behind him just a few paces. "At least they wont be able to bicker when the darkspawn are around."

Osiam nodded absent mindedly, having started to think about them now that the group was closing in on the city.

This is where most wardens came to fight and kill as many darkspawn as they could before meeting their pre-determined fate. Would he do that to? Would he follow his new found instincts as he grew older, and die in the deep roads, alone...and hated?

"Warden!" A sharp call popped his head up, Zevran was strutting playfully towards him.

"He's gonna run you through you know." He heard Alistar warn the Crow from the front of the line.

Why did the elf always seem to rip him out of his own thoughts? Perhaps he knew dark things plagued Osiam's mind...No..He wasn't a mind reader. "..." Osiam glared as per usual when the "Blond Beauty." Circled around him and looked him over.

"The sun is very high." He murmured softly. "Shall we stop for a _very_ short meal?"

The idea sounded ok, but a deeper part of him didn't want to admit to liking any of Zevran's ideas.

He nodded slowly and glanced around at his other party members who seemed never the wiser, and simply gathered around a set spot where they'd build a small fire.

Alistar cautioned with every inch each of them moved, that they should be sure to keep themselves from being spotted, by keeping the fire thumb sized and hunkering down and what not.

As per usual, Zevran proceeded to taunt the man about how he was so scared of the big bad bandits.

But just as the Antivan drew his hands up in a mocking high pitched, but quiet scree of terrior, a loud roar echoed from the bushes just behind Osiam and Wynne, who had settled around a cleared patch of ground where they were about to begin building the fire...And then...It tore from the sharp pine thrush.

**END OF CHAPTER ONE**. _Please please leave reviews, spelling or grammar corrections. It's all OK. This is my first story posting publicly and I wanna know what everyone thinks so far._


	2. Sign of worry

**Chapter Warnings:** Mild to harsh violence.

Osiam scanned the area he had only just bolted from, Wynne at his side with her stave ready and cocked back, to ensure a quick chunk of rock could be quickly delivered should something dangerous rear out of the settled smoke and snapping branches. A few tree's had been toppled, it was something big!

Just as soon as Osiam had time to recall all of the monsters that might reside close to here, a muffled shriek tore from between the sagging tree trunks, a mighty shake sent them twisting off over each other, landing on the ground behind the creature in the form of an X.

A long neck ascended from the cloud of chaos, a radiant head mounted on the muscles with jaws agape in outlandish rage. It let out another shrill cry, and locked eyes with Alistar who had stumbled even further from the treeline and was holding his shield tightly to his chest. It's proud gaze swept over the lot, finally falling on Osiam who returned it's prominent sneer with a glare of his own, curling his lip where one canine exposed itself to the beast. Equally as dark and deadly, the monster finally barreled out of the mess, revealing it's staggering size and sharp claws, dagger sharp even. They too were dark, black and curled in just slightly. They practically scooped the earth out with them as the creature charged.

It was plain now that this was a drake, a very underfed drake.

Alistar was at it in an instant. No matter how tall the bloody beast, no matter how impossibly outmatched he might have been.

But the drake wasn't moved by courage alone, it stumbled to a slower, more violent trot with fangs exposed before it snapped at the air in front of Alistar and stomped around him in order to lift it's rear up and sweep it's tail into the very center of Alistar's gut, sending the armored Templar flying back as if he were little more than a doll.

As Alistar landed, Osiam could swear he heard the breath jerked from him. He let out his own silent exhale, whipping his staff forward to hurl a bolt at the head of the drake.

It reeled back in shock, screaming out defiantly as the bolt stuck between it's long, skinned snout. The crack of lightning that shot up it's thick hide, glared brightly against teeth that were exposed again in a mere second, roaring back curses at the mage no doubt.

Zevran had darted around Alistar the moment his stiffened body went barreling by, through the dirt and dust, letting out strained sounds of breathlessness in his wake.

The Crow however, caught the drake off guard, throwing his arms back and forth in a fit of sprinting, only stumbling to a swift footed dancing game under the drake, once he'd gotten close enough; he kept his gleaming eyes on the thinner areas of hide around the drake, probing for any weakness before he delivered his blow.

Osiam picked up quickly on the strategy and began pumping waves of static from his staff, tiny bolts here and there, but they were various in type and numbers, only enough to prickle the drake and keep it enraged with Osiam, very much unaware of the assassin lurking just under it.

No battle was predictable though.

As Zevran readied his strike, the drake gave a mock charge at the warden, knocking Zevran forward with the blunt of it's knee. Both mages stared, shocked at the grounded man, then began casting spells rapidly, it was all over if the drake noticed Zev. "Alistar!" Wynne croaked frantically for the man, her voice frail with age, but sharp with determination and concern. "Distract it!"

Osiam didn't wait to see if Alistar had done as he was told, probably only just now recovering from his knock-back. The young elf was bolting straight out from beside Wynne, tripping over his own feet a few times as he struggled to form a split second plan. It felt like he'd reached Zevran in an instant though and could only think to trip backwards onto his rump as the drake persistently ducked after him, yawning open a mouth almost as tall as he, himself was.

He also shuffled around with staff in hand, dragging it through the dirt at his side and dragging it up just in time to wedge into the crook between the drake's two front teeth, leaving it's mouth forcibly opened.

"Uhhg, where- Warden?" Zevran slurred softly, slowly blinking, thought his head lulled to the side for just a moment.

There was little time to reassure the Crow though. Osiam felt the hot breath of the drake upon him, it's head pushed down, trapping him under his own staff and squeezing the breath from his lungs like wet laundry being wrung dry. He took a sharp inhale that was fought for with each approaching inch the drake took. He was almost sure he'd felt the wavering unconsciousness of the fade for a moment, but remained long enough to see a flash of icy white explode over the back of the drake's jaw.

"Wake up!"

A warm breath hit his face, followed by another rough and insisting command to awaken. "..." Osiam rolled his lids back painfully, letting out a soft cough, then digging his fingers through his slack clothing, where his chest was.

"Oh maker don't scare me like that!" Came the relieved, and yet frantic reply.

Alistar stood above him, armor slaughtered on his right side, with a fresh scent of blood to accompany the seeping wound that was probably just under the torn chain.

"Hurry, get up. We're not done!"

Osiam felt a heavily gloved hand grab hold of him, pinching at his collar bone in order to get hold of his cloak and drag him to his feet. Heavy panting filled his ears, weather it was from himself, or Alistar, he couldn't tell at the moment. He thought he could make out the gentle swaying of the land before him but soon found, as his vision cleared, that it was him stumbling left and right to keep balance. The gentle world of rocking and steadying breaths, was cast aside in favor of reality, where time sped up and the muffled cracks and booms seemed ten times louder.

Wynne gave her staff a powerful thrust up, a swollen wave jumped through the air, pulsing at break-neck pace until it found targets to enter.

Energy suddenly flooded Osiam, with a quick glance at Alistar, he could see the would be Templar felt the same.

"Zevran cut into it's leg, it's starting to panic. We need to finish it!" He heard Alistar trying to scream over the blaring sound of the drake crashing through the brush, ripping the earth up, screaming bloody murder. He hadn't even had time to wonder how such a mangy looking drake had grown so big. Usually these types of lore born beasts were only found in old places. Or abandoned places where they could make lasting homes.

Osiam shook his head free of distractions, nodded with his jaw slacked in mild exhaustion. Wynne's healing magic, even her regeneration spells only took him so far.

It was then that Osiam had a chance to look around, he caught Zevran still sputtering weakly around, dodging the drakes legs just barely. Wynne was doing all she could to keep it from targeting Zevran fully, and trying to stomp him out of existence.

Alistar had apparently finished trying to scream orders at Osiam, and was now jumping back into the fray; he was strong enough to give the dragon a good few bashes in the snout as it rounded and threw it's jaws at him. The rapid blows had it stunned for a moment.

It was enough time for rage to have started boiling in the young mage, his hand gripping tightly around his staff as the tips of his fingers brushed over the red, ripped cloth that was tied around it. Osiam then looked to Wynne who thankfully had glanced his way at the same time.

She paused her casting, and changed her expression to a deep worry as he nodded. This wasn't going to end well, and he didn't want his companions in the way.

The spell Wynn had granted him previous was running out now, he'd need to time his cast just right, or risk fainting during the process. Osiam put his faith in Wynne to make the right actions as he brought his staff close and equally returned his free hand, to his chest, cupping an energy and allowing it to grow with the shifting of his fingers. Light began to pulse throughout his veins, it ran up his arms, though stopped short of his shoulders, even from under his cloak there was a dim glimmer.

The scene seemed almost bizarre, even for this magical world where ashes cured those flirting willingly with death, a place where demons needed humans to become stronger, and where man could cast fire from the bare of his palm. Even for a place like this, the happenings in the sky twisted what seemed reality. Clouds, once filled with snow willingly followed the call given, pulling from as far as two hundred feet, as high as a half a mile in the sky. Lowering and collecting into a singular unit the festered and withered into a sickening black cloud of destruction.

As the warden put outstanding effort into his spell, Wynne had taken it upon herself to send a pulse of energy at the two close fighters. It struck between them and sent them both flying from it's epicenter.

Zevran took the hint with a last squinted gaze up at the clouds, jerking to see Wynne jogging past slowly to tap Alistar on the shoulder and help him up enough so that the three could travel away from their Warden together.

The drake had flicked it's gaze between all three little beings, beings which needed to be squashed! But one was missing. A questioning call left it's tongue in a loud chirp, before the static above had started to flare.

Bunched too tightly, the clouds heated, sparks set off like star bright fireworks.

Osiam glare up slowly at the drake; as if in slow motion, it finally turned to view him as well, after having viewed the dramatic events above it. There was understanding in it's seemingly cold eyes. It'd lost. A flicker of fear followed, as if it thought it might be able to escape if taking leave now. Too little too late.

Osiam threw his arms up,clutching at the sky, the muscles in his arms bunched under fingers that rounded like claws to call forth the storm. Lightning as gigantic and vicious as the drake it self split from the bottom of the clouds, there was hardly time to bat and eyelash before the sound of a short cut shriek echoed through the forest. More bolst followed, puncturing eve n the thickest of hide as it travel through him, not like a sword, like a rod. Attracted to it's tall and lengthy form, enveloping the monster like the sealing claws of an eagle, wrapped round it's prey.

The spell was most obviously draining. To his knees, Osiam fell, his breathing ragged and raspy.

The drake remain fried in one half standing position for a moment longer. The forest was silent again, all except for the sizzle of flesh under scales that had already started to flake. But gravity saw the drake to it's finally resting spot, falling slowly like a humbled oak. The feeling of it's multi-ton body hitting the cold, hard dirt was unexplainable. It shook the four for a moment, and rattled their eardrums; eventually, they all collected around Osiam who had already half caught his breath.

"...What was that?" Alistars soft voice finally inquired. Thought he was still riled from battle, it was apparent not everyone was unscathed enough to share his curiosity.

Wynne felt the cold easing through her bones, called her to set a blanket next to some fire and sleep.

Zevran looked in thought, though his eyes were sagging in exhaustion as well. No one answered Alistar, but they all had found some agreement in his question. Why was the drake so big?

"Why was it out here?" Came the rattled, yet still as gentle, second question, hours later when all members had settled around a fully lit fire. Alistar and Osiam had returned to the deceased drake just a few feet down the pathway, to try and carve out some meat. It was better than nothing, even if a little fried. Zevran had remained in camp to watch Wynne, under Osiams orders of course.

Zevran was silent as he remembered the warden pointing to Wynne as he eyed Zevran sternly. It was the first time he'd felt like chuckling in quite a few hours. Though, Wynne's question brought him back to the depressing reality that it was dangerous even in the seemingly deserted roads that lead to the dwarven city.

"Ah, Wynne. You must learn to go with life as it comes yes? And question not the makers choices." There was a mock lightness in his tone, as if he were struggling to be so nonchalant about the situation. But something was nagging him deep down. Something he thought might need be expressed if the Warden himself didn't see it soon.

Alistar kicked a small stone at the fire, which was in the middle of a few fallen trees.

At least now that had a few inches of cover. But at what price? Everyone was tired, wounded. Even Wynne wouldn't be up for another battle for days, if she could even get up for travel in the morning.

The concern for what should be done, shown in Osiam face, it was rare, but it happened. He didn't even bother to wonder about the drake anymore. It was dead, in the past. His companions where here and now, real and in need. But of course, there was a Crow around who couldn't let the Warden settle something without a second opinion.

"What is a drake doing out here?" The Antivan snuck the question in dryly, squinting his eyes in slight thought as he eyed the other three.

"Are they common here?" Wynne added fuel to the conversation, with innocent worry. "I am not so sure this was just..." Her voice died down gently, there was something she didn't want to admit.

"I know the Archdemon is supposed to be a dragon who lives in the deep roads...But the Archdemon has wings from what I hear, it's an old god, a high dragon. Not a drake, they've got no wings. And..Why would it be so close to the deep roads, it'd be out spreading and commanding the blight creatures...right?" Though helpful his advice was, even Alistar seemed uncertain and it showed; he gave a light shrug.

"Unless." This was it, unleash the news and hope to drill it in, or rather, hope it spreads itself like wildfire. "It was planned..."

(Phew thanks for reading guys. I tried harder in this chapter to draw out each character's emotions and or struggles. I hope yall like it!)


	3. Sign of shock

**As always none of the characters belong to me except the idea of Osiam. Enjoy. **

**No smut in this chapter however Zev does happen to get an eyefull LOL.**

Osiam thought sleep was going to be a welcome treat; he was horribly wrong. Whispers of planned assassination teased him from afar while darkspawn and dragon alike ran their tainted claws over his skin, blackening everything, reshaping it until a blistered monster was all that remained. He could swear, through the puss filled boils that obstructed half of his vision, he saw the Archdemon coil out of slumber, it's neck tilting back like a snake while it stared at him in comfort. He didn't scare the Archdemon in the least, no, it was very assured that it's minions would find and end him before he could even pose a threat.

A last rumbling hiss signaled the end of his dream, blackness overtaking him finally before he jerked from his dream in a flash of blinding firelight and furious sweating.

"...Did... Did you have a dream?" The question sounded hesitant at first, but after the first word fell from Alistars lips it was quick and demanding.

Osiam lifted his head, eyes squinted in mild discomfort at the fire's glare. He brought the palm of his head to shield out some of the light, in order to gain himself some consciousness, then looked over at Alistar from behind his fanned palm. "..." He twinged his mouth and shrugged it off. Alistar was the last person he wanted to talk to about it. The elder Warden would only try to comfort him and explain further the meanings of his dreams, it was all too depressing.

"Right...It's still a long time till sunrise...Do you..want to get more sleep?" Though posed carefully, Osiam could tell it was Alistar's way of checking on him.

Sometimes he was grateful for the brotherly protection, other times he wished one person in the group would have some faith in him. He could deal with his own past, deal with his own emotions, deal with his own dreams. He didn't need Assassins questioning him, Old people babying him, or even good friend's coddling him. Getting into an argument over it seemed like it'd only cause more headache though.

Reluctantly, after glancing around, he nodded and eased back onto his sprawled mat. This time, the elf didn't dream. For once he'd woken up and wasn't entirely exhausted. The fight drained him and forced him to sleep well, perhaps too well. Osiam gasped roughly as he whipped himself into a sloppy sitting position.

"Oh! Uh..." Came Alistar's voice almost instantly. "I thought..you know..you'd want more sleep! Usually you don't turn down an offer to keep watch so...I figured you were...tired." His voice died down sheepishly as he realized Osiam wasn't exactly thrilled about sleeping off the whole early morn.

Osiam sighed and shook his head, it was done now and instead of griping about it and wasting time, he might as well make use of himself.

Wynne was still sleeping, no one dared to stir her. She needed as much rest as she could get. In all honesty Osiam felt badly enough that he couldn't somehow magically pack an entire bed for her. He didn't like her having to sleep on the cold hard ground.

Zevran was nowhere to be seen, this stirred pause in the elf warden. "..." He cleared his throat after a good stretch, and stood up; deciding it best to branch out for some secretive snooping. Zevran was quick to mention assassination attempts last night, and now was off doing whatever. Osiam didn't like it, and intended to find out just what his whole notion was all about. He was slightly surprised when Alisar didn't question him, probably thought Osiam was going to go relieve himself, which was half true.

The forest easily swallowed Osiam, it tilted up and strangely held some pockets within tree-lines that weren't drenched in snow. The thick makeup of twigs under his feet snapped every other step. And though normally he wouldn't care, Osiam couldn't help being even the a little nervous after their encounter with the drake. His body language suggested the very same. How his eyes roamed searchingly over the hazy horizon above him at the top of the mountain, the way his legs waded like a rusted lever, through the clearing fog. It gave much away.

He began to relax a little when the normality of the forest revealed itself. A fawn sprang from behind a log close by as he passed and threw itself up a few tightly packed rocks, to where it's mother was startled from her eating to look over the ledge at Osiam, who continued to press on after watching her silently for a short moment. The uptight elf even braved a relieved smile as his fanned ears took in the distant sound of water crashing over a half frozen river. It wasn't long before he saw it come into view.

"..." Osiam drew a quiet breath at the sight of lightly frosted pines towering dominantly over the jutting cliff, the very same that roared a glimmering, sun bathed waterfall from it's sky pointed maw. This was why he did it, this was what deserved to be saved from the Blight. Even if most of the people he met weren't worth it, there were scenes of beauty and innocence he could not deny. There were children who didn't understand why the earth was punishing them by sending monsters to devour their parents at war. There were boys and girls just unfolding into adulthood who wanted to be something in their community or the next town over, to guard, to entertain, to serve. And their chance would be snatched from under their youthful feet if Osiam didn't at least try. Even his own beginnings of adulthood were ruined by betrayal and darkness.

Osiam shook his head slowly and decided to scout a spot to stop and..drain the dragon as it were.

Two pines stood close together behind a few bristling bushes just off to the left of the waterfall. Perfect!

Osiam strolled casually through the clearing, a rare beam of sun warmed it through the clouds for a moment before the elf warden reached his destination; it was a welcome change.

He shuffled trough the brush and undid the front of his loins, his gaze drifting back to the scenery to watch tiny glimmers of sun beams try breaking through the vast blanket of clouds, blasting light against the waterfall which would in turn cast faint rainbows against the haze at the bottom of the fall. There was no question that the sight helped Osiam along in his little...predicament.

"_Oh my._"

Osiam tensed as his eyes widened in utter shock.

"Warden! You hide such _**wonderful**_ things from me. why is th-" Zevran had no time at all to finish his questioning before Osiam had released hold of himself, and shoved his elbow back into the Crow's gut. Zevran stumbled back a good ways, holding the injured area with a winded chuckle, recovering in time to see a laced up warden barreling into him.

Rage fumed in the pit of Osiam's stomach, he was certain it might cloud from his ears in the form of smoke, if at all possible.

The two tumbled and rolled back down some of the mountain side, being stopped momentarily by rocks which would give Osiam time to throw some punches at Zevran's face before they would struggle enough to begin rolling again. It was only as they were tossed at the base of the hill that they broke apart forcefully. Both scuffed and panting. "_**Please**_ tell me you're this enthusiastic_ in the tent_." Zevran growled in a hushed whisper as he stared with flare in his eyes.

Osiam spit a wad of saliva and dirt to his side, glaring swords and dragon breath at the uppity bastard in front of him, though both were sprawled out on their hands an knees, it was obvious who'd come out on top of their brawl.

Zevran chuckled as he reached an arm up to brush the blood from under his nose, giving one more little laugh when Osiam flashed him a snarl. "It was only a joke." He cooed, a sly smirk still slapped over his face. A face Osiam would love to get his knuckles into right now.

"Hey!"

Both males jerked their heads over at the sound of a sudden shout.

"You'll bleed if you've done anything! Step back!" It was Alistar, his command as sharp as his sword.

Zevran slowly got to his feet, his hands throw up disengagingly to the sky as he took willing steps away.

"You alright?" Alistar scuffled in a bent position to grab hold of one of Osiam's arms, and then his waistband, dragging him to his feet quickly as if he thought a moment of slowness would see Zevran's dagger through their back. "I told you we can't trust him! I let the two of you off for one breath, ONE breath!"

Osiam was still panting, but revealed one questioning eye on Alistar. The man sounded more like a nanny at the moment.

"I simply caught the charming Warden off guard! He was spooked, things got out of hand, ehhh, you know how it is. I assure you I tried nothing ..._dangerous_." He put both eyes on Osiam as they squinted slyly.

To which Osiam responded by gently shrugging Alistar's hands off him. "...Leave it." He muttered.

Alistar stared in mild shock as the younger Warden trekked back towards their temporary camp.

"Now you done it." Alistar sneered back at Zevran after Osiam had started to wake Wynne. "He doesn't just sputter things randomly, if he spoke you must have done something horrible. What was it elf?"

Zevran, though a little surprised himself, gave Alistar no time to see it, his smirk already returned. "I told you, dear Alistar...I've simply snuck up on our fair Warden- as a game, you know, a joke! Eh -heh. He didn't take it so well." Zevran's voice trailed off like a child who had just realized their mistake. "I'll make it up to him, yes?"

"No!" Alistar cut in. "You will do best to leave him alone. No amount of horse play or mockery will make him like or trust you anymore than he already does, Maker smiled on you with mercy that he even gave you this much trust. Why do you find it your place to try that trust every chance you get?" There was defiance in Alistar's face, and he believed it rightfully so.

Zevran on the other hand, saw overreaction in the equation. "I didn't hurt the Warden, my Templar to be. And I never will. Though you two don't believe me, I know there will come no day when my intention is to cut him down. Afterall, he is the one who will stop the Blight, no? why would I want it to carry on and possibly kill me as well? No sense at all!" He gently scolded Alistar, a playful look of 'tsk tsk' on his face.

"You're bold to assume he will stop it. It could be any Warden...Besides we don't know if the other Wardens wont come by then. For all we know a much older, much more experienced Warden will step in...At least I hope so..." Alistar mumbled, his temper having subsided for the moment. "B-what do you care! I shouldn't even bother explaining all this to you. **You**" Alistar pointed squarely with his gloved finger. "Just stay away from him." He then pointed over his shoulder at Osiam, who had started to pack up their harvested food and beds.

Hours had passed, each companion holding a bit of the cargo they'd obtained. When they had first set out, heading for the snowed mountains, they only had mats and some cloth to bed on, so Wynne had offered to carry them without a moment's hesitation. But now they had a few wraps worth of dragon meat, so each of the remaining men had taken their own share without being asked.

Zevran stole a glance at the Warden who trudged on with his head down and his shoulders tensed as if struggling forward through a blizzard. For a moment he considered trying to make up for what he had done. A simple sorry was in order yes? But it wasn't as if he'd felt his dear Warden up, no, only stole a joking glance. At least, it was meant to come off as a joking glance. Did the young elf know what Zevran was up to? He must...with how he so violently resisted everything Zevran said or did.

"I think I can see some steps." Wynne called gently from the middle of the line. Her head lifted with her gaze set curiously on the grey structure ahead of them.

"I see it too!" Alistar called back, though he was only a few feet ahead of Wynne. He began to hurry ahead. When he reached them, he saw they indeed were steps! Covered in snow at the edges, and lined by tree's, but they lead up to a platform they contained shops and conversing men. Behind all of that was the great doors to the dwarven city!" Ah, Maker! Finally." He breathed.

"Well well well, boys. Look who finally arrived." Came an expectant voice, it was casual, the same as a family member welcoming their loved ones home.

Osiam stopped dead in his tracks and glared up at the collecting group of three, infront of them.

"We been waiting for **you** lot. Kill 'em all men." The head of the group ordered roughly, though one was obviously a female mage. Right on command all three readied themselves and engaged.

_Not another battle...Not so soon after the first..._


End file.
